Scot Harden

INDUCTED:
2008

Scot Harden has enjoyed a nearly 40-year career as one of the world's top off-road racers and compiled a set of records that few can match.

He has raced in North and South America, Europe, and Africa, earning titles and building a reputation as a world-class racer. A short list of his major titles includes: two-time Baja 1000 overall winner; three-time overall Baja 500 winner; three-time overall SCORE Champion; four-time overall Best in the Desert Champion; three-time International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) medalist (Gold: Italy, 1981; Silver: France, 1980; Bronze: Czechoslovakia, 1982); winner of the 1987 Djerba 500 Rally Tunisia; Total Challenge Performance winner of the 1987 Rally de Atlas Morocco; 1982 AMA National Reliability Series Open Champion and 1994 AMA National Enduro Vet Class Champion.

Harden started his career in 1973 as a factory rider with Husqvarna and raced with the team until 1986. During this time he earned many of his Baja and international wins, served with the 1982 U.S. ISDE Trophy Team, and won nearly 100 regional desert races.

In 1988 he began working with KTM USA as Western Region Sales Manager and Desert/Off-Road Racing Manager. That same year he raced in the 1,900 mile Incas Rally Peru, where he finished in third-place overall and first among U.S. riders, and in the 2,500 mile Rallye de Atlas in Morocco, finishing second overall and first among U.S. riders.

In 1996 he entered the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, earning sixth-place overall and Rookie of the Year honors. From 1997 to 2000 he took overall wins in the Elsinore Grand Prix Legends class.

Harden served as team manager and a rider for the 2004 and 2005 U.S. Red Bull KTM Dakar Rally teams. In the 2005 Dakar Rally (at age 48) he finished 17th out of 250 motorcycle competitors. He has also helped develop the careers of other off-road champions, including Dan Smith, Danny Hamel, Russ Pearson, and Chris Blais, who finished third in the 2007 Dakar Rally.

Harden has held numerous executive level management positions within the motorcycle industry with Husqvarna, KTM, BMW and most recently Zero Motorcycles. He has served as a board member for the Off Road Business Association (ORBA), which works to preserve access to public lands and serves on the Motorcycle Industry Council's (MIC) Electric Motorcycle Task Force. He is the 1998 recipient of the Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award as well as the 2014 AMA Bessie Stringfield Award based on his continued promotion of the sport of motorcycling on a national level. In 1998 he was named one of the top 10 riders in the history of the sport by Dirt Rider magazine.

Scot is currently leading the development of electric motorcycles in his position as Vice President of Global Marketing for Zero Motorcycles. He is also the President and Founder of Harden Offroad, a rider training, event promotion and product development company that serves the offroad community. Both his sons, Brent and Brock are accomplished racers in their own right. Scot is married to Kristi Harden, who for over 40 years has been his partner and wife and has played a huge role in him achieving his status as a Hall of Famer.